Age disequilibrium between zircon and their granitoid hosts caused by intracrustal reworking: Nd-Hf-Ar isotope evidence of Archean Granitoids from Barberton Mountain Land (Kaapvaal craton, South Africa)

The degree of early Archaean terrestrial differentiation into mantle and crust is long debated. A number of studies rely on bulk rock Hf and Nd isotope data to gain further insight. Here we present Hf-Nd data from two igneous basements suites of Barberton Mountain Land, namely a tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) and granodiorite-granite-monzogranite (GGM) suite to further decipher crust formation and its timing in the Archaean. TTG show high initial e(Hf) and e(Nd) if corrected using their respective U/Pb zircon ages that can be interpreted in two ways: (i) early differentiation of bulk silicate Earth or (ii) overcorrection of these data caused by decoupling of zircon from the ‘zircon-free’ bulk rock due to metamorphic overprint. Indeed, regional metamorphism affected the early TTG ca. 250 Ma after their emplacement and disturbed their bulk rock Hf and Nd systematics. Correction of bulk rock Hf and Nd data to the age of metamorphism yields values between +0.9 and − 6.2 and from −1.3 to −4.3, respectively, thus indicating open-system behaviour. Lu-Hf and Sm-Nd mineral isochron ages of two TTG plutons are significantly younger than their corresponding U/Pb zircon age, but agree within uncertainty perfectly with external age constraints for the age of the metamorphic overprint. The same accounts for the 40Ar-39Ar systematics of the investigated plutons. Amphibole samples consist of a mixture of heterochemical generations that yield ages that are both older and younger than the metamorphic overprint at 3.2 Ga. The metamorphic minerals in each plutons provide a highly divergent age information from the coexisting zircon. Hence, the positive e(Nd) and e(Hf)-values that resulted from age-correction to the respective U/Pb zircon age are most probably over-corrected. Finally, if all data is age-corrected to the metamorphic overprint all samples agree with models for the Nd-Hf isotopic evolution in the mantle that do not require a large-scale early differentiation of Earth into enriched and depleted reservoirs. Mantle extraction ages (TDM) of TTG are interpreted as minimum ages for the generation of felsic Archaean crust whereas TDM of GGM are interpreted as maximum ages for the last major crust growth episode in the Barberton Mountain Land.